A Winning Smile: Branding in Taiwan

This article was written by Butler Waugh and published by The Taiwan Review on July 1, 2003.

Butler Waugh is a partner at Comprador International Marketing Services based in Taipei. In this article, he points out that after decades of labor-intensive manufacturing for foreign companies, Taiwanese companies are now trying to reap the profits of selling their own products under their own brand names. In Waugh's words: "Many Taiwanese companies have tried to remain competitive by enhancing their original equipment manufacturing (OEM) capabilities with product design services, in order to become original design manufacturers (ODM). Others have moved production to low-cost countries. However, many say the path that Taiwan's companies must take to remain internationally competitive is to create their own brands."